Water Endangered Near Champion

February 24, 1985|by DAN FRICKER, Sunday Call-Chronicle

A preliminary assessment of the environment near the closed Champion Spark Plug Co. plant in Hellertown shows that metallic sludges, cyanide and other hazardous wastes dumped in lagoons there between 1930 and 1976 could contaminate area groundwater.

The assessment notes that the rear of the plant property, where four of the five lagoons were located, is about 1,000 feet east of the Saucon Creek. The lagoons were filled in with soil and recalled spark plugs in 1976.

Although the assessment by the state Department of Environmental Resources draws no conclusions, it is expected to result in a site inspection by the Environmental Protection Agency, DER officials said.

"A site inspection involves a little more sampling. It includes moresampling in the area. It will go offsite as well as onsite," James E. Kunkle, a solid waste specialist at the DER office in Bethlehem, said Friday.

The assessment, the apparent first look at the environmental condition of the property at 1758 Main St., was prepared last month by Kunkle under an agreement between the DER and the EPA.

The EPA ordered the assessment because the plant is on the federal Emergency and Remedial Response Information System, a list of about 21,000 sites nationwide subject to investigation under Superfund.

The assessment - 60 pages of maps, letters, records prefaced by Kunkle's observations - will be reviewed by the EPA's Site Investigation Section in Philadelphia, EPA spokeswoman Nancy Sinclair said.

A copy of the assessment was obtained by the Call-Chronicle Thursday at the DER's regional office in Norristown, Montgomery County.

As part of his evaluation, Kunkle also drew samples from four test wells on the property on Feb. 14.

The water will be tested for the presence of metals, cyanide phenols, volatile organics such as trichlorethylene (TCE) and general water quality standards at a DER laboratory in Harrisburg. The results, however, are not expected to be available for several months.

According to the assessment, wastes generated by the spark plug plant between 1930 and 1976 were dumped into four lagoons near the rear of the property and in a fifth pit where a parking lot is now.

The wastes consisted primarily of zinc plating and chrome-dip sludges, both of which are toxic, organic solvents such as TCE, a carcinogen, and cutting oils, which are classified as non-toxic in Pennsylvania but as toxic in New Jersey, DER Hydrogeologist Joseph Manduke said Thursday. Cyanide, a toxic compound, was among a laundry list of other chemicals dumped in the lagoons.

"Where there's hazardous wastes placed in unlined lagoons with no natural barrier, leachate will seep into the ground," Manduke said, explaining the danger posed to area groundwater and the Saucon Creek.

On the other hand, no operating wells are in the vicinity of the lagoon area, the assessment states. The closest wells, 1 1/2 miles south of the plant, are pumped by the Hellertown Authority and used to supply water to the borough.

It is this relatively long distance between the plant and the nearest operating wells that probably caused the EPA to delay inspecting the plant. Assessment of a site is often delayed, Manduke said, when there have been no detectable problems or complaints.

The plant has been on the EPA's Emergency and Remedial Response Information System since at least 1981.

"The problem would have been assessed earlier," Manduke said, "but it's a small site and probably escaped attention."

The absence of complaints and detectable problems, however, does not mean that the closed lagoons and their hazardous contents pose no threat to the environment or Hellertown-area residents.

"A lot of there carcinogens are odorless, tasteless and colorless at low concentrations," Manduke said.

If the samples taken from test wells show contamination, Manduke said, the EPA or the DER will take action against Champion to get the company to remove hazardous wastes from the property.

"The wells have to meet drinking water standards. That's the test," he said.

The assessment already has had an effect on the borough. PPM Technology, a subsidiary of International Marketers of Center Valley, wanted to buy the building and property in late December and install an acid distillation plant there.

However, PPM Technology backed out of the $550,000 sale whenChampion refused to guarantee that it would pay the full cost of any clean up. Champion, instead, offered a limited one-year guarantee.

O.H. Materials, of Finley, Ohio, dug the test wells on Dec. 21, under a contract with Champion.